


Out of Order

by buoyantsaturn



Series: will solace week [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Truth or Dare
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-09-19 07:17:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20327248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buoyantsaturn/pseuds/buoyantsaturn
Summary: It was tradition on the first day of fall for all the year-round campers to sneak into the Aphrodite cabin after lights out for a few rounds of truth or dare.





	Out of Order

**Author's Note:**

> yes its a truth or dare fic no it's not garbage (at least i dont think so)  
please enjoy this part 1 of will solace week ((im doing at least 1 other day but we'll see when i get around to it))

It was tradition on the first day of fall for all the year-round campers to sneak into the Aphrodite cabin after lights out for a few rounds of truth or dare. Seeing as Nico had agreed to stay at camp rather than wonder the globe for the foreseeable future and was now officially a year-round camper, he was dragged from his cabin in the middle of the night by a grinning blond who, for once, wasn’t wearing his trademark green scrubs. 

Normally, Nico would be ecstatic to find Will whisking him away in the middle of the night, but when they wound up outside the Aphrodite cabin, Nico started feeling anxious. 

“C’mon, it’ll be fun, I promise,” Will told him with a tug on his hand. “Don’t you trust me?”

“Of course I do,” Nico grumbled indignantly, and trudged into the cabin behind Will.

It was immediately overwhelming. Nico was used to his own very empty cabin and the moderately filled infirmary - but this? The cabin was practically overflowing with campers, laying on bunk beds and sitting on the floor and standing near the walls. Nico didn’t understand how much  _ noise _ there could be in a single building. How could any of them hold a conversation in a place like this? He squeezed Will’s hand, about to pull him close and whisper-shout that he was just going to go back to bed and forget that he’d seen any of this, when the rest of the cabin seemed to notice Will’s presence.

“Will!” one of the Aphrodite girls - Nico never learned their names because they hardly ever went to the arena - exclaimed, and grabbed Will’s free hand to pull him further into the cabin, thus dragging Nico further inside as well. “We were waiting for you! What took you so long?”

“I had to get Nico,” he said, and pulled Nico closer to bring him to the girl’s attention. 

“Oh,” she said, and Nico saw her gaze flicker down to their joined hands. Her eyes widened before she looked back up at Will.  _ “Oh!” _

Will didn’t seem to notice. “But we’re here now. What’s first on the agenda?” 

“Veteran’s choice.”

Nico didn’t understand what she meant by that, but by the surprised look on Will’s face, Nico figured that it was something of a big deal to him. 

“No way.  _ Me?” _ Will asked. He started looking around the room frantically, spouting off names of campers that Nico recognized from the summer or from years past, though none of the names were of people present. “But… Not even  _ Annabeth _ is here?”

“Nope, she’s seasonal now, remember?” the girl replied. 

“Seasonal?” Nico cut in, cocking his head in confusion.

Will squeezed his hand, all of his attention straying to Nico and making his heart flutter at the feeling of those incredibly blue eyes on him. “She’s in school now. This is the first time since she was...what, seven? That she hasn’t been a year-round camper.” He looked back to the Aphrodite girl. “Have I really been here the longest out of anyone?”

She nodded. “That’s right! So you pick the games tonight!”

Will grinned. He raised one hand into the air and called out, “Everybody, circle up for truth or dare!”

A cheer went up as campers formed a circle on the floor of the cabin. Some had climbed down from bunks to get a spot in the ring, while others had scrambled up from the floor so that they wouldn’t get caught playing. Will pulled Nico into the circle, tugging him down to sit beside him in the ring. He kicked his legs out in front of him and crossed his ankles, and let go of Nico’s hand for the first time since they arrived to lean back on his hands. 

“Alright, alright, settle in, y’all. We’re in for a long night,” Will said as the chatter of the room quieted down around them. “You all know the rules of this one. No ask-backs. You can’t pick the same answer three times in a row. Refuse to do the truth, you do the dare, and vice versa. Any questions?”

“Kinda,” Nico muttered without the intention of being heard. 

Will shot him a grin and patted his leg. “You’ll catch on quick, Sunshine.”

He turned back to the rest of the group, scanned the faces of those sitting with them in the circle with the same expression that Nico had seen him examining injuries with, like he was deciding what part of the patient was the weakest, the most vulnerable, the part that needed immediate attention. 

“Cecil.”

A groan came from across the circle. “Come on, man! Why do you always pick me?”

Will shot him a grin. “Truth or dare, coward.”

Cecil let out a heavy sigh. “Truth.”

“Do you still have a crush on that Demeter girl?”

Cecil flopped onto his back with an even louder groan, covering his face with his hands. 

The game still didn’t make much sense to Nico as time wore on, but he tried his best to roll with the punches. Someone asked him about the skull ring he always wore, and someone else asked about the coolest place he’d ever visited. Then, when he wasn’t allowed to say  _ truth  _ for the third time in a row, he was dared to steal something from another cabin - so he’d shadowtraveled away to the Apollo cabin and came back wearing one of Will’s flannel shirts. 

He didn’t understand the weird looks everybody kept giving him after that, nor did he understand why Will suddenly made a new rule that he could veto any questions asked that were too personal. Nico just didn’t want to accidentally steal from someone he didn’t know, and it was starting to get kind of cold in the cabin - why shouldn’t he borrow one of Will’s shirts?

It was Lou Ellen’s turn next. “Will, do you have a crush on anyone in this room?”

Nico thought he could hear Will’s breath hitch next to him, even with the chorus of  _ ooos _ that rose throughout the room. When he looked up at Will’s face, he was just as calm and collected as always. 

“You didn’t ask for truth or dare,” he said instead of answering.

“You took dare the last two rounds,” she countered. “There’s no getting out of this one, Sunny Boy, and vetoing will just give us the answer anyway.”

Will rolled his eyes. “You should be a lawyer, Lou. Yes, I have a crush on someone in this room. You already knew that, of course, but thanks for making it public knowledge.”

“What are friends for?” she replied, smiling brightly. 

“Whatever. Anyway, now that it’s back to me, I’m calling this the last round of this game. If anybody’s  _ dying _ to embarrass somebody in this game, this is your last chance. Chiara, truth or dare?”

The last round went surprisingly quickly, though Nico suspected it was because people were getting eager to end things. He was getting pretty tired himself, and wouldn’t have minded heading to bed over an hour ago. However, when Will announced the end of one game, he started another. Around them, people jumped in and out of the circle. Some were grabbing snacks or running to the bathroom between games, others were jumping in for a new game they preferred while others ran away from a new game they despised. Someone insisted that everyone sticking around for the next game swapped seats so that they weren’t next to the same people for another whole game. Nico ended up between Kayla and Julia, and directly across the circle from Will. 

Once everyone was settled again, Will said, “New game: paranoia. Whisper a question into the ear of the person next to you. They have to answer out loud with the name of a person in this room. Then, I’ll flip a drachma - heads, you say the question out loud, tails, you don’t. Anybody wanna start us off?”

Valentina’s hand shot into the air. “Ooh, I do!” She turned to the boy sitting next to her and whispered something into his ear.

“Oh, easy,” he said. “It’s Nico.”

Nico’s head snapped toward Will, just in time to watch him flip the coin. “Tails. Let’s move on.”

Nico pulled his knees up to his chest and tried to hide behind his own legs. 

A few rounds later, Kayla was whispering into Nico’s ear, “Who is the funniest person in the room?”

Nico took a second to scan the circle, though he hadn’t spent enough time with anyone to know whether or not they were funny. “Um. Will?”

Across the circle, Will seemed to perk up at the mention of his name. He flipped the coin and smiled when he said, “Heads!”

“I asked him who he thought was the funniest person here,” Kayla explained. 

“Dude!” Cecil exclaimed, leaning forward so that Nico could see him around Julia. “No way is Will funnier than I am!”

“Whatever, Cecil,” Will told him, still smiling brightly. “Just let him think my bad jokes are funny. Anyway, it’s your turn, Nico.”

“Oh, um.” Nico thought for a second before he turned to whisper in Julia’s ear. 

The game continued on. Lou Ellen and Cecil both admitted that Will was their best friend, which led to a short argument over who  _ Will’s _ best friend had to be. By the time Will’s turn came around and he said Nico’s name in answer to whatever question had been whispered into his ear, Cecil exclaimed, “You better not mean that  _ Nico’s _ your best friend over  _ me!” _

“Guess you’ll just have to wait and see,” Will replied, grinning, and flipped the coin in his hand. “It’s heads.”

Damien said, “I asked him who has the best hair.”

Nico barely noticed the light shade of pink growing on Will’s cheeks as he said, “Okay! Everybody find a new seat for round two.”

Nico stayed seated while the rest of the room moved around him, and suddenly Will was sitting beside him once again. 

“Hey,” Will told him, bumping his shoulder against Nico’s. “Having fun yet?”

“It’s...certainly interesting,” Nico replied. 

“Yeah, they’re all kind of a lot,” Will laughed. “You’ll get used to everybody by Christmas, trust me.”

“Will, it’s your turn,” Austin reminded him from across the circle. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Will said, waving a hand at his brother. Will leaned closer to Nico, his breath fanning against Nico’s cheek as he whispered, “Who would brag about being able to take down a monster, but would run back crying if they actually saw a monster in the woods?”

Nico had to really focus on Will’s words rather than the feeling of Will so close to him. “It’s Cecil, no question.”

Will snorted rather unattractively and dropped his forehead onto Nico’s shoulder.

“What did you say? What was the question?” Cecil demanded. 

Will, still laughing and with his head still resting on Nico’s shoulder, flipped the drachma; it was tails. “Don’t worry about it, Cecil. It’s better this way, trust me.” Will lifted his head and bumped his shoulder into Nico’s once more as he said, “You’re up.”

Nico was growing to hate the part of this game where he had to think up questions, so he just copied Will’s instead. Lou Ellen answered without hesitation: “Cecil.”

Will flipped the coin. “Tails.”

“Oh, come on!”

Nico grew more and more tired as the second round of the game went on - nobody mentioned either him or Will for most of the round, and Nico was practically lulled to sleep by Will’s frequent call of heads or tails. He didn’t realize that he was resting against Will’s side until Will pulled away slightly in order for someone to whisper in his ear. Either way, Nico didn’t move, and instead let his eyes slip shut. 

“I’m not answering that,” Will said, his laughter tinged with discomfort. 

“C’mon, he’s asleep! He’ll never have to know!” somebody else called from across the room. 

“Oh my gods, you guys set this up, didn’t you? This was all just a big ploy to get me to admit my feelings for Nico! You’re all the worst friends ever.”

Nico’s eyes snapped open. There was no way he heard that right. There was no way that Will actually liked him back...right?

He lifted his head from Will’s shoulder, and Will turned toward him with a look of dread on his face. “Oh, Styx,” Will whispered, and suddenly jumped to his feet. He announced, “Game over,” and ran out the door, slamming it behind himself.

The cabin was silent for a single minute before campers started shoving at each other and blaming everyone else for ruining the night. Nico found himself stuck to the floor by the look of betrayal on Will’s face as he ran from the cabin. Should he go after Will? Would Will even want to see him after that? There was only one way for him to find out.

Nico stretched the nearest shadows toward him until the space around him was dark enough for him to slip into the shadows and disappear, thinking only of reappearing wherever Will had gone to. 

He wound up on the Aphrodite cabin’s porch. 

“Will?” Nico said quietly, and in the darkness he saw Will rubbing furiously at his face.

“Hey, Sunshine,” Will croaked.

Nico sat down beside him on the steps, and Will looked away. “Hey,” Nico said, reaching out for Will’s cheek and turning his head back toward him - Will’s eyes dropped to his lap. “Why did you leave?”

Will laughed bitterly. “Because that was embarrassing.”

“This whole night as been embarrassing for me,” Nico told him, and brushed a tear away with his thumb. “You didn’t see me running out of there.”

Will groaned and dropped his forehead onto Nico’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry. This wasn’t how I planned on you finding out.”

Nico pushed him back and held Will’s face with both hands, forcing eye contact between them. “You  _ wanted  _ me to find out?”

“Um...yeah? I mean, eventually,” Will told him. “I like you, but I just wasn’t going to tell you until I figured out whether or not you like me too.”

Nico let go of Will in order to flail his hands around for emphasis. “You were going to  _ tell me?  _ I was prepared to take this to my grave!”

_ “You _ like  _ me?” _ Will asked. “Why  _ wouldn’t  _ you tell me?”

“Because it’s embarrassing!”

_ “Would you just kiss already?” _

Both heads snapped toward the cabin behind them, where the doors and windows had opened to reveal the entire population of year-round campers watching their flustered exchange. 

_ “Oh my gods,”  _ Will cried, burying his face in his hands, though Nico could still see the bright red tips of his ears. 

Nico pulled one of Will’s hands away and told him, “Hold on tight,” before he tugged Will with him into a shadow, and the two disappeared. 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!! check out solangeloweek.tumblr.com for more will solace week stuff!!


End file.
